One of the more pleasant surprises to come out of the weekend's Nintendo Switch announcements is Konami's Super Bomberman R. This pick-up-and-play title will be ready for the Switch's launch, and looks to be very charming, fun and accessible. For those unfamiliar with the 33-year-old franchise, Bomberman is a series in which the title character plants bombs to eliminate obstacles, enemies and other players in a grid-like stage. The full game will have a story mode in addition to the battle mode (which will likely be the main attraction among players).

We had the opportunity to go hands-on with the four-player battle mode. With simple controls it's easy to get into the battle mode, whether or not you are too familiar with the series. Watching bombs explode is just as satisfying as it's always been in the Bomberman franchise, and things get truly frantic once enough obstacles are cleared and players start dropping out. Power-up items are scattered throughout, helping to speed up characters, give bombs additional power and more.

There's a nice aesthetic to Super Bomberman R. While the visuals themselves are not particularly impressive - polygonal characters and stages do the job with little flourish - there are cartoony animated sequences that will charm any anime fans or fans of the old-school Bomberman games. The story mode in the final build of the game will also have voice acting.

There are a few concerns with Super Bomberman R. On a large television screen there's no trouble keeping track of your character and fast-paced gameplay, but on the Switch's tabletop mode it's a bit hard to see the details of the top-down stages. Since the battle stages are zoomed-out, single-screens, things felt very busy on the small screen.

That being said, the prospect of eight-player battles is glorious, and the 50-stage story mode should make for some classic arcade-style fun. Super Bomberman R isn't going to break any ground with its familiar explosions and mayhem, but it doesn't have to; sometimes, colourful old-school gaming is refreshing in this era of progressively darker and more complex titles.

Lee spent his early childhood years trying to beat Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom. When that goal was completed, he went on to become a New York-based writer and editor and is also involved in the local theatre scene.

@Shiryu It is a day 1 purchase for me as well. I love this game back on the NES. The TG16 for WII was delightful. The Bomberman Adventures were alright, but this is where it is at and that battle mode is great for drinking games.

@Shiryu I'm all about single player mode when I'm not entertaining. Do you know if this will have online gaming? I'm alright with the $50 dollar price tag. I hope it does well and players give this puzzler a chance because this IP deserves so much love. Kudos to Konami.

I've never played a Bomberman title before but then again, I'm almost literally bleeding money in March with Mass Effect, Nier Automata, Horizon Zero Dawn and, of course, Switch with all of its accessories and such releasing. The next Switch buy is probably gonna be Fast RMX for me.

@AlphaJaguar Oh come on. If this classic reboot is good and you like it, what is the problem? It's your prerogative and all and their last few Castlevanias were not that great, but give them a chance and have an open mind.😀

I think the one thing most YouTubers said about this game was that it's fun... but by far the ugliest games that was on show during the big event. With Mario Kart 8 Deluxe & Splatoon 2 being rendered in 1080p/60fps, Konami has pooped this game out with sub-PS2 graphics. Where is the effort?

Anyway, despite the games' aesthetics being lazy, it does look fun. That should be enough for me to pick it up after a couple of discounts.

@AlphaJaguarBut I still LOVE Dance Dance Revolution. Well, though Konami scandal still arrousing my perception. After Naoki Maeda left from Konami, DDR songs overall become Meh in my opinion.About Bomberman (Rebirth?), I think it looks fun, so classic, definetely buy but I put that on 3rd priority.

Still not understanding the disdain for Bomberman's Story Mode. Every single one of them I've played since B64 has been incredibly enjoyable (especially Hero's and Tournament's), I dare say, far more enjoyable than the multiplayer. Why is this seemingly an uncommon opinion?

@River3636 I think that @AlphaJaguar is referring to Konami's attempt to critically damage the gaming industry through their corporate greed, disgusting working practices and attempts to steal Metal Gear from Hideo Kojima while at the same time silencing him through legal malpractice.

There is no doubt that Konami has some amazing properties, but then Vladimir Putin has some lovely hats. It's sometimes hard to ignore the bad.

As Jim Sterling often says, "Fudge Konami. Konami is Konami & Konami are the worst".

@DanteSolablood Don't know how you came to that conclusion. The boss might have been low-poly (I'll have another look at that trailer, later), but the Bomberman bros., at least, had the silkiest-looking textures.

@Gauchorino This is just from players feedback at the show (the Youtubers playing the game rather than watching a pre-prepared trailer), I've not made my mind up yet. Some of the explosions & effects do look pretty poor though just on my first impressions.

@DanteSolabloodI have heard about Konami scandal. Very sad to hear, especially some talented artist left from Konami, working on another company. Naoki Maeda left to Capcom, Jimmy Weckl left to SEGA, etc. Peoples maybe hate Konami now but I can't because I still LOVE DDR, one of biggest Konami (BEMANI) franchise ever. I still keep playing DDR X2 until today. I LOVE some BEMANI artist such Sota Fujimori (System S.F.), Takayuki Ishikawa (DJ TAKA), Yuichi Asami (U1), Yasuhiro Taguchi (TAG), etc. I know newest DDR, DDR A is not really good enough from previous DDR but I still hope I can play it someday. Sorry if I defend Konami despite of having a lot of scandals but I can't hate my beloved games DDR.

Bomberman local multiplayer is the reason, why my humble SNES is still hooked up today along with the bomberman-themed multitab! They should make a multiplayer mode utilizing several tablets at once and zooming in on the little bombermen. Remember Dynablaster on the orig. Gameboy - that game nailed it

@Anti-Matter Well, you're not defending Konami, you're defending the games. I think most of the Metal Gear games are masterpieces... but they got made despite Konami's best efforts.

I have no problem with people loving Konami games as the people designing them do their best. Most of the issues are with the CEO's and corporate environment (anyone who speaks out is silences & disposed of).

Bomberman was never a out good graphics, but local multi-player mayhem. I know people will knock it, but I would buy the Switch just for a new physical release Bomberman game. This is what my friends and I played all the time on the Snes back in the 90s while in high school. We all got back together recently for a wedding and played Bomberman all night. For those that have played and love Tower fall, Bomberman was the Tower fall of my generation, but with bombs instead of arrows

This looks lovely, I see Puyo Puyo Tetris is $40 while Zelda is $60 so I guess they will be pricing 3DS level games at $40 and go $60 for home console level games. I think Bomberman should be on the lower range.

Hopefully it'll sell enough to keep the online modes populated.My for a good while.My first Bomber man was the TG16 one on Wii VC and I loved it. Wiiware Bomberman was alright too, could have been great in fact but the regular disconnects, lag and ridiculous amounts of time given to players to press A to start the game and always being that one player who would let the clock run down ruined it for me.

Very excited about playing bomberman on the switch, but, man, is this game ugly. And while the character models and animations are middling, and the explosion effects are terrible, it's really the lighting and shading and overall art direction that kill it for me. The dead colors and drab overall visual result make the series no justice at all. I'd rather play a 16-bit 4-player version, tbh.

I'll wait for it to go down to the $20 range, which will probably be by the holiday season...not enough added to make it have the $50 price range, it's just that...just like any system that launches...companies try to get the highest price possible to get a ton of money...because there usually isn't a lot at launch for systems, the companies try to get the most out of that idea, charge a lot, but then drop the game down in price rather quickly. Bomber man is very popular, but not that popular, which means the game will go down in price, just like some of the others for the system...Zelda will be the only one that will remain at $60 for the next 4 years.

One of Bomberman games that captivated me is Custom Batler Bomberman NDS (Japan & Europe only). I love the futuristic style of Bomberman and also the character customise. I would like to see new Bomberman games with Futuristic style, songs by BEMANI artist, gameplay modes such as Tennis/Baseball/Golf like Bomberman Battles PS2.

@Shiryu So? they've already been funded by Konami so they've got their pay. Plus, do you know how good their working conditions are? they're probably being treated as badly as regular Konami staff with unwarranted surveillance and humiliating side tasks. Your money is going directly to Konami.

@River3636 Are you not aware of the workplace abuse that Komani runs its company with? corporate greed happens in the industry all the time, I'm accepting of that. The difference with Konami is that they treat their own developers just as badly as they treat their customers.

@AlphaJaguar I am quite aware of the appauling conditions at Konami and how they treated Hideo Kojima among many other outspoken employees. But I prefer to treat my friends to a game of "Super Bombeman R"when they come around than nothing at all...

Was so excited when this was announced! Pre ordered this along with Zelda and 1-2 Switch for my launch games. Its good to hear Lee enjoyed the time he spent with the game and I'm pumped the old Hudson gang is developing it. Thank you Konami and Nintendo! Can't wait for me and my brothers to play drinking games with this and 1-2 Switch on launch day!

@AlphaJaguar This is something of a dilemma, isn't it? I think your approach is a legitimate one, effectively punishing Konami for their sketchy ethics and their turning away from a long-loyal game market. On the other hand, I think there's something to be said for financially rewarding them dipping their toes back into the game world, as it could inspire more software development over whatever the heck they're doing now (pachinko, right?). Both seem like valid takes, and both represent rational consumer decision-making.

@DanteSolablood Touché. I didn't realise there was disparity between the sets of footage. The trailer did captivate and surprise me (to wit, seeing Bomberman was made alive again), but it probably was unwise to judge the graphics of the whole only on a short, well-edited clip.

@singingbrakeman It's funny, ever since Sammy acquired Sega and created the consolidated holdings company, Sega Sammy Holdings, Sammy never jeapordised Sega gaming structure. Sega's gaming and Sammy's pachinko business were unafilliated with each-other to this day. Konami on the other hand is compromising home video gaming for their pachinko business. Unless Kojima gets an apology or the workplace practices change, I will never directly purchase a Konami game.

My favourite Bomberman game without doubt it Mega Bomberman on the Mega-Drive (or Bomberman '94 on the Turbografx via Wii's VC!!) and although I prefer the old pixelated bomberman games I am glad this one is shaping up the way it is. I do agree that £50/$50 is expensive but everything is only worth what you are willing to pay, and I am willing to pay for this so count me in!

@AlphaJaguar
Sorry, but, I do not agree with all this or with everyone who is against Konami; Why?
Simple, Already strikes the absurd the "Widespread hatred" for a company that has had problems so much by the results that has given this industry of today, the change of administration and decision making by trying to save the company, but oh well...;
And yes, I see myself defending Konami, but, chiefly, I do not support the mistakes that the company made in the last years and that has been mentioned in the news and Rumors (if rumors, why this, as I said, already scratches in the absurd), but, oh well...

Mega Bomberman & Saturn Bomberman were two of the most played multi-player games of my youth. The SNES & TG16 versions were also great. However, from Bomberman 64 onwards, they seemed to lose their way. Some games were just average, others were hideous, like the 360 one.

From the trailer, this looks like a step in the right direction, but as others have said, I'm hesitant to trust or support Konami, and £50 is expensive for a game that looks like the same stuff again with fancier graphically. Chances are, I'll buy this 2nd hand when I see it for £20 or so - there getting it cheaper, and not handing my cash to Konami.

@Captain_Toad Why do you care more about a video game franchise than the working conditions of the people who programme, create assets and direct the game? That's beyond selfish and feeding rights into the hands of Konami. And they're not rumours, they are facts. Various reputable sources have confirmed this. For you to "defend" a corporate entity like Konami is dissapointing just for the sake of an overpriced Bomberman revival game.

@AlphaJaguar I'm fully aware of the working conditions and idotic decisions that Konami has madehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uphcEJW-MDA&t
(Strong language in this video)
holding Kojima hostage at the Game Awards 2015 and getting epically slammed by Geoff K. for the world to see and turning the next Metal Gear into a me too Zombie Shooter.

I have every reason to nuke their office right now.

BUT, then comes Super Bomberman R.

We have a rare opportunity of a game not getting shot down before release a la Bomberman 3DS and P.T., a game actually getting finished and not getting stomped with micro-transactions (hopefully) a la MSGV, an opportunity for a long lost franchise to be a revived and be an ACTUAL game and not be turned to a slot machine (castlevania, silent hill, gradius, MGS3, yes MGS3) or a cell phone microtransactioned mess like contra.

Let this game show konami a message that slot machines and mobile games SHOULD NOT be the future for this company. (even if it turns out to be full price) Maybe, JUST maybe, we can get working conditions to improve after all!

Or..just let it game fail then, the one time where we get a glimmer of hope of this hated company fades away because of past transgressions. Maybe we don't wan't them to change. Nah, Bomberman deserves to be buried and turned to a slot machine like the rest of em.

You know what you are gonna get with Bomber man average to good graphics, awesome fun gameplay and lots of content n modes was gonna be a day one purchase but at 60 bucks no way if it was £30 then defo I'll wait for a price drop for now n prob get 1 2 Switch instead.